According to pastor and author Ed McGlasson, fathers have a unique power to use their words to expand the horizons of their children, or

to wound them.

McGlasson FIXING OUR CULTURE S TAR T S WITH FATHERS

AND DIRTY JOBS

HARD WORKAFFORD PLENTY

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YOU’LL BE A MAN, MY SON:

RUDYARD KIPLING ON MANHOOD

Ed

OLDEST LIVING US WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNS

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LIFE & WEEK 38, 2020 JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020B2

Georgia Army National Guard Capt. Chad Tyson receives a hug from his son Chase during a welcome home ceremony in Marietta, Ga., after a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan, on Nov. 22, 2013. 

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GUARD FLICKR PAGE

You’ll Be a Man, My Son: Rudyard Kipling on Manhood

JEFF MINICK

On a hot Virginia afternoon in early September, I stepped outside the Happy Creek Cof-fee Shop to take a break from writing and my computer.

From where I stood, I could see a crew of workmen repairing a pothole on High Street, the driver of a Sysco truck deliver-ing foodstuffs to a local restaurant, the bearded postman making his rounds, a policeman carrying coffee to his patrol car, and a young man on a moped delivering packages.

And Rudyard Kipling came to mind.He would have made the perfect bard for

men such as these.As I write these words, I have at hand the

1921 edition of “Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Inclusive Edition, 1885–1918.” As I thumb through these pages, I am struck by how many of his poems deal with men and what they do: soldiers, sailors, day laborers, and barkeeps, priests and kings, and regular guys. Of all our poets of the last 150 years, Kipling—OK, I’ll give a nod to Robert Ser-vice—was surely the strongest voice of the common man.

Kipling (1865–1936) is little taught in our schools today. Though his novels “Kim” and “The Jungle Book” remain popular, and though he was the first writer in Eng-lish to win the Nobel Prize in Literature and the youngest ever to receive that honor, critics generally label him an imperialist, which he was for most of his life, and a rac-ist, which is debatable.

Hence, in many of our schools Kipling is verboten.

Too bad.For we men, particularly the young

among us, could learn a few things from Kipling about manhood. Stories like “The Man Who Would Be King” and dozens of his poems elevate the ideals of manliness of his time.

His well-known poem “If—” might best capture these lessons. Let’s look at the poem, examine some of its points, and see what Kipling has to say about becoming a man.

If—If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

The Old WayFor 2,500 years, men celebrated the virtue of stoicism, even when they’d never heard the word. Whether you were a chief of the Cheyenne, a Roman general, or an ordi-nary man confronted with some horrible disaster, the ability to “meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two imposters just the same” marked you as a man.

“If—” is a hymn to such stoic ideals as patience, a certain indifference to pain and pleasure, the courage to tackle tri-als and tribulations. Such fortitude and forbearance allow a man to absorb life’s hard blows—and as all adults know, life can throw some hard punches—and keep moving forward.

In the film “Rocky Balboa,” Rocky gives that same advice to his son:

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or no-body is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Good men keep moving forward.

Squelch the EgotismThough Kipling never says so directly, “If—” also advocates for humility. By tell-ing readers how to handle failure, he’s also warning against the dangers of pride: “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, /Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch.”

We live in the Age of the Celebrity, the quarterback paid tens of millions of dol-lars a year to throw a ball, the movie star whose films have earned him millions and four mansions, the politician who leaves Congress after 20 years with millions in his bank account.

Many of these men become puffed up with pride. Because of their status and their money, they feel free to lecture the rest of us on our politics, our eating habits, our system of free enterprise, and our general take on life, and in doing so often make fools of themselves.

“It was pride,” Saint Augustine once wrote, “that changed angels into devils; it

is humility that makes men as angels.”Kipling is on the side of humility.

Guts and GritWhen we say a man has “guts,” we mean he has the courage that comes from the inside. Whether he has remained behind to cover the retreat of his comrades from a battlefield or stood for an unpopular cause knowing ahead of time the savage acrimony he must endure, we look at such men and are awed by their bravery. That man who bets his all on “one turn of pitch-and-toss” and never says a word about his loss has guts.

Grit implies both courage and persever-ance. These four lines of “If—” might serve as a textbook definition of this word:

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’”

We all admire grit in a man, from the ex-plorer trudging into the Arctic wastelands to the young father working two jobs to bring food to the table for his wife and three small children.

NobilitySome friends my age complain about to-day’s young men, accusing them of being “snowflakes”: easily offended, too fragile to endure adversity, too weak to grapple with hard times.

Probably some such males exist.But I know plenty of young men who don’t

fit this category. Let me close by introducing you to one of them.

Sam, his wife, and two daughters, ages 4 and 2, recently moved into the house across the street. We have some friends in com-mon, and they’ve twice invited me to their home for a meal. As a result, I have gotten to know Sam reasonably well.

Sam is in his early 30s, and works as an independent contractor and builder. He’s out of the house before dawn and returns around suppertime. Often in the evenings, I hear him hammering and sawing in the garage that serves as his workshop. On both of my visits, he looked exhausted, red-eyed, his fatigue audible in his voice. Yet never once have I heard him complain about the work he has chosen.

He’s the perfect example of a man who has filled “the unforgiving minute/With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run.”

So there are noble men among us. And if we want more of them, we should not only have our young men digest poems like Kipling’s “If—,” we must also show them by our own words and deeds how to live out those virtues.

Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog.

U.S. NAVY

‘If—’ is a hymn to such stoic ideals as patience, a certain indifference to pain and pleasure, and the courage to tackle trials and tribulations.

English writer Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) on Jan. 16, 1928. 

EVENING STANDARD/GETTY IMAGES

A boy welcomes the USS New York at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 1, 2015.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 B3

DEAR NEXT GENERATION:

➜ Advice from our readers to our young people

Dear Youngsters of America,

I was born in 1955 and blessed with a mother and father who taught me and my brother and two sisters

the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and the simplest rule, “Honesty is the best policy.”

Mom and Dad also taught us that “Giving is better than receiving” and I realized how true that was when I did something for someone in need. It was a win-win!

My parents also taught me the value of hard work and earning a living. My first paying job was at 8 years old cleaning stalls at a nearby horse ranch for $.50 an hour, but the immense pride of buying my first bicycle a year later was powerful. I developed a strong work ethic to carry me through a successful career that I recently retired from.

Which brings me to my final advice to the Next Generation: If government and society will still allow you to earn a living in the future, make sure it is doing something that you love, because then you won’t “work” a day in your life.

Sincerely,— Paul Golde

Dear Next Generation,“Words have no power to impress the

mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.”

—Edgar Allan PoeWhen you find yourself in a hole, the

first thing you do is quit digging.Listen to people older than yourself.

Learn from their life experiences. Don’t repeat their mistakes.

Listen to those who have a different opinion than your own. Listen to under-stand, not push your own point of view.

Travel to places that are different from where you grew up.

Learn that there will always be people who are richer than you. Don’t try to keep up.

The world doesn’t care what you look like, but people care about how you treat them.

The world will kill you if you give it a chance.

Don’t cheat. The rules are there to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity.

Laws are in place to keep society in place. If you break a law, society will punish you. Be ready.

Learn how to apologize sincerely.Learn to forgive yourself; don’t let your

bad decisions define who you are going to be tomorrow.

If you do something wrong, fix it

and make it right, no matter who you wronged.

Don’t die like a moron.Don’t ever say, “Here, hold my beer,

watch this!”Marriage isn’t about love, it’s about

commitment. Love, sex, and your body will all fade away. In marriage, your body belongs to your spouse. Treat it as such. Men, love your wife. Women, respect your husband and his decisions. Don’t have children unless you are ready to take care of them. You can’t return them.

Your body is not a playground, it is a temple that houses something Holy. Take care of it.

Have blind faith, like a child on Christ-mas morning.

It’s never just about you. Narcissism never ends well.

God disciplines those He loves. Use difficult circumstances as learning op-portunities.

Education is expensive; being stupid is even more expensive.

Be honorable; do the right thing even if it hurts.

Read a lot of different books—travel, science, philosophy, fiction, history. Increase depth of wisdom; get out of the shallow end of the pool. Stay away from Twitter and Instagram. Read history books that were written by the people who experienced it, not those who in-

terpret it. Compare and contrast Fyodor Dostoevsky and Jordan Peterson.

Good luck in your future endeavors. Remember that when we old folks are gone, your future will depend on your children, and your crazy neighbor’s children.

Peace be with you.— Craig Brougher

Decisions we make become the lives that we live ...

— Bob Friedman

What advice would you like to give to the younger generations?

We call on all of our readers to share the time-less values that define right and wrong, and pass the torch, if you will, through your wisdom and hard-earned experience. We feel that the passing down of this wisdom has diminished over time, and that only with a strong moral foundation can future generations thrive.

Send your advice, along with your full name, state, and contact information to NextGeneration@epochtimes.com or mail it to:

Next Generation, The Epoch Times, 229 W. 28th St., Floor 7, New York, NY 10001

‘Be honorable; do the right thing even if it hurts’

LOUISE BEVAN

Two Nebraska octogenarians, married for six decades, rang in their 60th anniversary with a touching photoshoot in hom-age to the day they tied the knot. Both bride and groom, aged 81 and 88, respectively, donned their original wedding attire.

Marvin Stone was dressed in the same dapper black tuxedo (with a matching bow tie) he wore to await his bride in 1960. Meanwhile, his wife, Lucille, wore a stunning white lace gown that she had hand-sewn herself.

“The thing that took the lon-gest was making 52 buttons that are on the sleeves and down the back,” Lucille told KHGI-TV.

Marvin and Lucille posed to-gether for a series of romantic portraits shot by photographer Katy Autry in August.

Reflecting on their lives, the two said they were both chil-dren of the Great Depression.

“We’re both pretty conserva-tive,” Lucille said. “He was born at the beginning of the ’30s, and I came along a few years later for my parents, as kind of a ‘surprise baby.’”

Marvin noted that the couple’s upbringing had been markedly similar.

“We both had farm back-grounds,” he said. “We both were free-enterprise people, and we had similar goals in life.”

Both Marvin and Lucille be-came teachers, sharing similar

outlooks and ambitions. They were “just kind of together in our concepts of what to do,” Marvin said.

The Stones married in 1960 at a small church ceremony in Sterling, Nebraska; Marvin was 29, and Lucille was 22. It was a “typical wedding,” despite the fact that the pastor was “a little shook,” as the nuptials heralded his first experience leading an official ceremony.

Lucille recalled her father cry-ing tears of joy. Both of her par-ents, she said, thought Marvin was “just perfect.”

Now, six decades and three children later, Lucille feels the same way.

“From day one,” she said, “we have assumed marriage is for-ever.”

“We have had similar values,” Marvin added, “and so it has worked out pretty well. ... We never spent any time consider-ing separating.”

On Aug. 20, photographer Katy Autry posted a selection of touching photos from her shoot of the Stones diamond anniver-sary on Facebook, where they quickly went viral. Autry said the photoshoot “may be one of my favorite sessions to date.”

The photographer wished the happy couple a joyous day, call-ing them an “amazing example” of long-lasting love.

“I am so glad to have met them, and honored to have captured these memories for them,” she wrote.

Thousands of commenters re-sponded with messages of love, awe, and support for the couple’s long marriage.

Offering a few words of wis-dom to younger married cou-ples, Lucille told KHGI-TV: “Use the resources that you have, and don’t expect to have everything that you might want. ... Focus on the needs along the way, and keep the faith, keep a positive attitude, and do your best.”

Meanwhile, to those curious to know their secret to a lasting marriage, Autry wrote on her Facebook post that the couple offered five pieces of advice, which include: Work hard, be kind to one another, think be-fore you speak, rely on each oth-er’s strengths to overcome your weaknesses, and stay strong in your faith.

Ringing In 60 Years TogetherThe Stones donned their original wedding attire for a touching photoshoot

Marvin and Lucille Stone.

KATIE AUTRY PHOTOGRAPHY

LOUISE BEVAN

The nation’s oldest living World War II veteran, Lawrence Brooks, just turned 111 years old.

Brooks rang in his 111th birth-day in Louisiana on Sept. 12. For five years, Brooks has celebrat-ed his birthday at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans among a melting pot of military veterans, family, friends, and lo-cal well-wishers.

However, in light of the ongo-ing pandemic, the museum has had to change its plans, request-ing that well-wishers send cards in lieu of a party.

He ended up receiving nearly 10,000 cards from 50 states and seven foreign countries. A small group from the museum deliv-ered cards and cake, and the museum’s vocal trio, The Victory Belles, serenaded him. The party was capped by military flyovers by the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team and The Big Easy Wing.

Born in Norwood near Ba-ton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1909, Brooks came from a huge family and was one of 15 children. Dur-ing World War II, he enlisted,

serving in the predominantly African American 91st Engi-neer Battalion between 1941 and 1945, and was stationed in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Australia.

The centenarian described himself in a “CBS This Morning: Saturday” interview in 2019, as something of a reluctant soldier.

“When I first went, was drafted into the Army, old sergeant was telling us, ‘You’re training so you can go kill people,’” Brooks said. “I said, ‘Kill people? As much as I love people, you’re telling me I’ve got to go kill them?’”

Thus, Brooks took a job as a military cook of his unit instead.

The former Army soldier re-tired in his 70s after a secondary career as a forklift operator. He has five children—two of whom he has outlived—13 grandchil-dren, and 22 great-grandchil-dren. Tragically, he lost his wife, Leona, during 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Of the 16 million U.S. veterans who served in World War II, 1.2 million were African Americans. Less than 250,000 of those U.S. veterans are still alive in 2020,

according to the U.S. Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs.

Brooks’s life is filled with love and laughter as he enters a new year on this planet. Sharing his motto for happiness and longev-ity with National Geographic, it turns out that Brooks’s recipe is simple: “Serve God, and be nice to people,” he said.

As to the secret to his longevity, according to CBS News, Brooks credits his good health, along with long walks and chewing gum, a habit he used to replace cigarettes.

Lawrence Brooks on his birthday on Sept. 12, 2020.

Well-wishers outside Brooks’s home on his birthday on Sept. 12, 2020.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM

Oldest Living US World War II Veteran Turns 111

Lawrence Brooks in a photo taken in 1943.

The celebratory cake.

Week 38, 2020 Week 38, 20202 | LIFE & TRADITION LIFE & TRADITION | 3

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020B4

Ed McGlasson: Fixing Our Culture Starts With FathersCATHERINE YANG

You need to look no further than the family to under-stand why our culture is falling apart, or why iden-tity politics has reached a

fever pitch.“The root of the problem that we

have in our culture right now is we have so many people that have been unfathered, boys and girls that have grown up now and are politicians that’ve been unfathered, and that wound of not having a father in their story is causing them to see the world through these glasses that they have—and we have over 24 million kids who went to bed last night, in our country, without their birth father in their story,” said Ed McGlasson, whose own father died before he was born.

McGlasson has written two books on the impact of fatherhood and has just published a third that aims to be a more practical guide, “How to Be-come the Husband and Father Your Family Needs.” He has corresponded with thousands of men and women who share life-changing stories of what happened once they repaired their relationships with their fathers. The former NFL player left professional football to answer his calling to become a pastor, and years later left the church he built to focus now full-time on his ministry to help men become the hus-bands and fathers their families need.

The reason fathers are so important, he said, is that they have the unique power to use their words to expand their children’s hori-zons—or to wound them.

“Or worse, disappearing from the story of that boy or that girl, so that their identity is a question mark,” he said.

Decades of statistics back Mc-Glasson up; countless studies show that children who grow up without

both biological parents fare worse than children who grow up with both of their biological, married par-

ents, and not insignificantly, as his book lists in length:

youth suicides are five times higher, high school dropout rates are nine times higher, behavior disorders are 20 times

higher than the aver-age. About 85 percent of youth in prison are from fatherless homes, and McGlasson adds that of-ten a father’s abandon-ment puts the child in a metaphorical prison. (A friend of his tells his

eye-opening story about how this is sometimes literal: men in pris-ons work on the construction of new prisons, sometimes the very ones their sons end up in.)

Despite the severity of statistics we’ve known for years, the culture does little to encourage good father-hood, and as a result, McGlasson

says he’s spoken to hundreds of thousands of people who have no idea where to start.

“We live in a day where men need hope so they can become the hus-band and father the family needs. They need tools. They get shouted down almost everywhere they go,” he said. “People who drink the Kool-Aid think that the only way to heal a culture is to do it politically. And there is a place for political stuff, but the root of the problem that we have in our culture right now is that we have so many people who have been unfathered.”

“If our core identity is going to be in our political party, we demonize the other side,” he said. “It’s like we have this fatherless culture that’s shaped the way people think about them-selves, that if you don’t agree with me, you’re saying I should cease to exist. It’s no wonder the political vitriol, the anger back and forth on both sides of the aisle is affecting people even [to the point of saying] ‘If you don’t agree with me, you can’t be part of my fam-

ily.’ The question is, well, why is this happening?

“It’s an issue of lost identity, when you don’t have fathers. The answer isn’t beating men up, the answer is giving men tools, and that’s why I wrote this book so they can become the husband or father, or ex-husband or stepfather, that that family needs. Because when a dad is restored, and I’ve seen this thousands of times, it changes the family. It changed my family.”

Creating IdentityMcGlasson’s father was a test pilot for the Navy, and on the night of May 28, 1966, he circled something in his Bible and his wife just looked at him and asked, was she going to lose him? He was startled, said no, and asked why she would say that.

“You just had this really strange look on your face,” McGlasson said his mother replied. The next day, his father left his dog tags and went out to test a jet on Memorial Day. And right off the coast, in front of a beach

We live in a day where men need hope so they can become the husband and father the family needs. They need tools. They get shouted down almost everywhere they go.Ed McGlasson

Girls and boys are born with different questions for their fathers, McGlasson said. Daughters wonder: Do you see me? Sons ask: Do I have what it takes?

Pastor and speaker Ed McGlasson has

written three books on fatherhood. His

third aims to be more of a practical guide.

McGlasson at a speaking event.

COURTESY OF ED MCGLASSON

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 B5

full of people, the engine failed and his pilot father had to decide wheth-er to eject and let the aircraft crash onto the crowded strip, or down it into the water.

“He hit the water at a few hundred miles an hour and was killed instant-ly,” he said.

His mother didn’t want him to grow up without a father, so she remarried, and McGlasson said his stepfather was the drill sergeant type.

“He did what most dads do, which is father the way they were fathered. His dad was a strong, authoritarian-type guy, and was all about football, and all about performance, and so he pushed me, and I sort of learned as a kid that my identity, my true identity, was about being a winner,” he said. He went to college on a football schol-arship and took that dream all the way through to the NFL.

“I wasn’t a Christian at the time; my religion was playing football and performance,” he said. That meant that the possibility of not being able to play shattered his identity—and he’s seen so many other pro-athletes behave the same way. In the NFL, NBA, and MLB, a large percentage of athletes don’t have a relationship with their biological fathers. “They were raised by heroic single mothers, and didn’t know their fathers.

“I watched guys who went from pee-wee football to high school to college to the pros, and it’s like this should be the moment of great arrival and they find out who they really are—and yet it ends in real tragedy and brokenness.”

The moment comes and they real-ize it’s just that—one moment. Their search for identity hits a wall, and most don’t know where to go from there. “I would watch guys who would arrive at success, at the pinnacle of their ca-reers, and completely sabotage them-selves because of that boy who never got a blessing from his father,” he said.

“Being successful is not an identity.” It can even have the negative effect of encouraging the man to be more self-focused, and it becomes all about what more they can obtain.

When McGlasson became a father himself, he fell into the same pattern. He remembers catching his first son in the delivery room, and the “Circle of Life” playing in his head as he held him for the first time.

“When I held him, two things hap-pened: this unbelievable joy, and this sheer terror, because I didn’t know how to be a father,” he said. He has three sons and two daughters, all adults now, and he said he made sev-eral blunders in their childhood.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t love my kids, I’d never been shown by my stepdad how

to be loving and present and speak life into my kids,” he said.

Then one day, at a speaking event, McGlasson was asked to take off the dog tags—the ones from his father—from around his neck because they were hitting the microphone, and he felt God speak to him.

“It just kind of stops me in my tracks and answers the question that I’ve had for so much of my life, which is ‘Why did you take my dad early?’” he said. “And the Father just spoke right into my heart, right in that moment: ‘I let your dad come home early so that I could be your Father.’ And I was just undone.”

The fatherless wound isn’t a perma-nent one, as McGlasson learned how God could not only begin that healing but teach us how to raise children and break that cycle of fatherlessness.

McGlasson is a Christian; a col-lege football knee injury led to a miracle and an encounter with the word of God; he talks about Jesus, and quotes from scripture. But he says this cultural problem is truly a universal one.

“Not too long ago, I met an Egyp-tian Muslim doctor on a plane ride and I tell him what I’m doing and he says, ‘Would you help me?’” he said. “I asked him what’s the matter and he said ‘My daughter, it’s just a battle, I never lived these things, I don’t know how to be a father. My dad raised me, he’s a harsh man who said if I’m successful in business then I’m somebody.’”

They spoke for two hours and after the plane landed, the doctor reached over to shake McGlasson’s hand and said he was the wisest man he’d ever met.

“As a matter of fact, I had an atheistic scientist show up at one of my events,” he said. “He showed up and he’s sit-ting in the back and he’s crying the whole time and at the end he grabs my hand and pulls me to the corner of the room and he tells me ‘I’ve been an atheist all my life and it’s because, I realize now, because I hate my father; all I did was prove myself to him and he never turned my way.’”

He kept in touch with the man, who not only healed and found God, but helped his brother as well, and sub-sequently his entire family.

Never Too LateSeveral years ago, McGlasson got a call from a man who was completely distraught because he had read Mc-Glasson’s book about how important it is to have a father, and he felt he had abandoned his daughter. The man went through a bitter divorce 20 years prior, and early on when he tried to reconnect, his ex-wife sent his letters back unopened and said he was dead to them.

They spoke and prayed at length, and finally McGlasson told him to pick up a pen and write these words to his daughter, “Help me under-stand how I hurt you when your mom and I got divorced.” He sent the letter not knowing whether he would get a reply.

A week later, he got a call from a woman who asked to meet. It was the daughter he hadn’t seen in 20 years. They met at a small restau-

rant in town, both of them tense as she approached the booth where he’d arrived early. He was shocked when she asked, “Dad, was I that ugly?” thinking he’d left the family because she couldn’t be loved. Even after decades, reconciliation was not just possible, but necessary.

It was a tearful reunion, and when they finished at the restaurant, she asked him to take a drive with her. When the car stopped, the man told McGlasson he heard voices yell, “He’s here, he’s here!”

When he looked out of his car he saw two grandchildren run out of the house, coming to embrace him and call him Grandpa.

Daughters and SonsGirls and boys are born with differ-ent questions for their fathers, Mc-Glasson said. Daughters wonder: Do you see me? Sons ask: Do I have what it takes? Self-worth is built into these identity-forming questions, and opening himself to being able to receive God allowed him to speak these answers to his children.

“I meet men all the time that were never named by the dad or blessed by their dad so their future is all about trying to make a name for themselves,” he said.

“God made us all, no matter where we come from, we’re like word-acti-vated human beings. What I mean by that is that the words spoken about us help form how we see ourselves.”

McGlasson has three sons and two daughters, and he says he really blundered at the beginning.

“One of the things that I kind of adopted from the NFL and sports was this passive-aggressive joking thing, so we would make fun of one another, and you know what when you do that it really hurts people,” he said. “And so our family didn’t know how to ask for forgiveness—and the reason it didn’t know how to do that was because the number one leader of the family, the dad, never went to them and asked for forgiveness.”

He treated his daughters like boys for a while, and he treated his boys the way his stepfather treated him, like a drill sergeant. Then when he became a preacher, he would preach to them. But once he heard the core questions his children had, the whole family dynamic changed.

“I saw my kids, who were really hurting, I went to them privately and said, ‘Could you help me un-derstand the things that have hurt you that I haven’t asked forgive-

ness for?’” he said. He’s candid in his book about where he fell short, and includes a touching letter from his daughter. He also asked them how he could support them through the next season of their lives. “Those were weepy, powerful times.”

Come March, McGlasson will have nine grandchildren. Last Christmas, he and his family sat around the tree and as he watched his sons and daughters be great fa-thers and mothers to their children, his grandchildren, right from the beginning, he had the thought, “I want every man to have this expe-rience.”

“I’ve never met a man that puts into practice the things we teach in our books that, first, doesn’t have a radical encounter with God himself, but also gets his family back,” he said. “It’s just incredible how many stepdads are now pres-ent loving fathers to children they didn’t sire, and how many lost kids have come home because their dad wasn’t a stumbling block anymore.

“We already see what the culture looks like without fathers, and it’s ugly. If we help and empower and give hope to men, and quit demon-izing them—a lot of guys were blow-ing it, but teaching them how to ask for forgiveness, teaching them how to raise themselves up for their wife and their kids, giving men hope they can become the husband and father their family needs, will change our country; we can change our world.”

Readers can get a free copy of McGlasson’s first book “The Differ-ence a Father Makes” at Blessin-gOfTheFather.com/freebook and use the code “epochtimes” for a discount on his new book “How to Become the Husband and Father Your Family Needs.”

According to McGlasson, fathers have a unique power to use their words to expand the horizons of their children—or wound them.

ALL PHOTOS BY JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTEDVALERYMINYAEV/SHUTTERSTOCK

A photo from 1981, when McGlasson played for the New York Giants.

McGlasson is a former NFL player.

Ed McGlasson at his home in Southern California.

Week 38, 2020 Week 38, 20204 | LIFE & TRADITION LIFE & TRADITION | 5

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020B6

You could be a simple broom sweeper, sweeping the shop all day—at least take pride in that; that’s how you rank up, get promotions.Jacob Nohai

Jacob Nohai attended SUNY Alfred College in 2017.

Tyler Thach and mikeroweWORKS producer Chuck Klausmeyer at WSU Tech in Kansas.

COURTESY OF JACOB NOHAI

COURTESY OF CHUCK KLAUSMEYER

Hard Work and Dirty Jobs Afford Plenty

of OpportunityCATHERINE YANG

Jacob Nohai sits in a machine all day long and moves dirt.

“Which is exactly what I want to do,” he says. “I love it.”

Nohai is a heavy equipment op-erator and works at a company that’s just invested in a sand and gravel yard; he’s in a field that he suspects most young people probably don’t even know about.

“I think what a lot of people miss is that just because you’re not making hundreds of thousands of dollars doing a white-collar job doesn’t mean you can’t do the same do-ing a blue-collar job,” Nohai says. “There’s no modern-day blue-collar representation.”

“In my field, there’s a gap in young men and women going into the field just because it’s not a very well talked about job, it’s blue-collar, it’s not what mainstream focuses on,” Nohai says. Kids will see plenty of ads and even television programs about doctors and lawyers, but nothing like what he does. But for Nohai, it was an obvious choice.

“I came out with a hard hat on, pretty much,” he says. Nohai’s father built the house they live in and owns his own home-inspection business, so Nohai pretty much grew up on a construction site. The heavy equipment outside used to move materi-als were like giant toys, and now he gets to work on and operate one for a living. From his experience, the opportunity is there.

Skills and Work Ethic Aren’t TabooIn 2017, Nohai attended SUNY College of Technology at Alfred State in upstate New York and applied for a scholarship that judged applicants based on work ethic.

Former “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe started his foundation to address America’s aversion to skilled labor, and the founda-tion has since given away over $5 million in scholarships. With over $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the United States, while tens of millions of trade jobs sit empty, there seems to be an obvious gap.

“Pop culture has glorified the ‘corner of-fice job’ while unintentionally belittling the jobs that helped build the corner office,” reads the foundation website. “As a result, our society has devalued any other path to success and happiness.”

In 2008, Rowe created the SWEAT Pledge (Skills and Work Ethic Aren’t Taboo), with 12 items all applicants must pledge to stick to. The ethos of it all appealed to Nohai, whose parents taught him these very les-sons and instilled in him a professionalism that’s stuck.

It’s something they called self reputa-tion, Nohai says, and it meant showing up on time, being professional, and holding yourself to a standard that’s “being the best that you can be, and being proud of the job you do.”

“You could be a simple broom sweeper, sweeping the shop all day—at least take pride in that; that’s how you rank up, get promotions. Show that self-interest and pride in becoming more at any particular job,” Nohai says. His parents held him to such expectations ever since he got his first job, and it’s served him well, so Nohai wants to encourage other young people to do the same, and to broaden what they think of as a good job.

“It’s a well-rounded field, I think a lot of people misconstrue it as not being the easiest of things because it is a dirty job, and not a lot of people take pride in being dirty,” Nohai says. He’s since graduated, done some traveling, and found a company that he thinks is a perfect fit.

OpportunityThe last item on the SWEAT pledge is: “I believe that all people are created equal. I also believe that all people make choices. Some choose to be lazy. Some choose to sleep in. I choose to work my butt off.”

Tyler Thach immediately liked the SWEAT Pledge when he read it, and that last line in particular, because he felt it summed up his own approach.

“Yes, some individuals have the upper hand because of advancement from family or friends, but a strong-minded individual with less could turn their life around and end up doing better than the one with ad-vancements. Life is made of choices from every individual that walks the earth,” Thach says.

Thach just graduated this summer from WSU Tech, where he studied avia-tion maintenance. He is about to get his airframe license, and will soon get his powerplant license as well. He’s had his career plan all scheduled out, working his way through school while taking care of his family, and timing his degrees and licenses so he can apply for the jobs that advance his career in the way he wants. Thach was paying for school out of pocket and decided to take his chances and ap-ply for the mikeroweWORKS Foundation’s Work Ethic scholarship—he decided to forego spring break and spent the week crafting his application instead, and was awarded $5,000 for his efforts.

“I wanted to get everything in line, to get everything done in time with the program,” he says.

Thach says he’d considered studying busi-ness administration as well, but the path he chose instead would give him the op-portunity to tackle interesting challenges in a literal hands-on manner. The aviation industry is big in Kansas, making up about a quarter of its economy.

“My family has been in aircraft; my dad and my grandma and grandpa all did avi-onics,” Thach says. He knew there were op-portunities in the field, but wanted to do something a little different than they did. “I was interested to get my hands on the aircraft and actually build the new aspects of the aircraft.”

It’s a fast-paced field, Thach says, and he enjoys the challenge.

“I love to challenge myself even when I’m uncomfortable with a new task; I always push myself to do it and never live with the regret of not taking the risk,” he says. “I will always strive to do my best in life and stay dedicated to the lifestyle I want for myself and my family.”

QUESTION: I find myself upset and fright-ened by friends who view the world and the election in an op-posite way to me. What are some polite words to say that will de-flect arguments, remind us that we care about each other, and encourage each other to accept our differing viewpoints?

—Judy Crawford

ANSWER: I think it is one of the important tasks of our time to learn how to love and respect the goodness and humanity of those close to us, even when we hold opposing views!

Before words to say, I would actually first suggest looking at the fright aroused by your friends’ ideas.  There are indeed now popular and truly terrifying ideas masquerading under the guise of kindness and compas-sion and bettering society. So while it’s natural to be shocked by these ideas, we should come to a place where they don’t strike fear in our hearts, because then we are limiting their power.

These thoughts don’t have a rational basis, and once you can see this, they no longer have power over your thinking—but it’s still shocking that those we love believe them! It may be of help to read our series “How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World.” This series explains how many of today’s popular ideas, although they appear to come from different sectors in society, actually stem from the same dark origin.

Second, I would consider hu-man nature. As I understand it, we all have the potential for both good and evil—love and fear—and true evil also exploits the goodness in our hearts for its purposes. So many people who mean very well, and sincerely want to see the world a bet-ter place, end up believing the wrong thing.

Polite words that reflect this line of thinking might be, “Dear [friend’s name], I know that you really care, and you know I respectfully disagree with your ideas, but I really love and ap-preciate your passion to improve this world.”

I suggest practicing these words, or a version of them, un-til they feel natural to you.

Sincerely, June

Do you have a question for our advice columnist, Dear June? Whether it’s a frustrating family matter, a social etiquette issue, a minor annoyance, or a big life question, send it to DearJune@EpochTimes.com or Attn: Dear June, The Epoch Times, 229 W. 28th St., Floor 7, New York, NY 10001

June Kellum is a married mother of two and longtime Epoch Times journalist covering family, relationships, and health topics.

DEAR JUNE with June Kellum

When Friends’ Viewpoints Upset You➜ Advice for reminding them you care

Mike Rowe’s mikeroweWORKS Foundation has given over $5 million in scholarships.

MAN

DEL NG

AN/AFP/GETTYIM

AGES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 B7ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE

MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

LARGER THAN LIFE: ART THAT INSPIRES US THROUGH THE AGES

Nearly Six Centuries in the Making: The Duomo di MilanoThe Cathedral of Milan—the Duomo di Milano—is easily the city’s most imposing sight.

Its construction began in 1386, and though it was consecrated in 1418, at the time, only the nave had been completed.

Initially, brick was used, but then the material of choice was switched to marble. The pink-streaked stone was brought from Piedmont via water-ways and canals until it reached a small lake a few hundred yards away from the cathedral’s construction site.

Due to politics and other setbacks, it wasn’t until the 19th century, under Napoleon, that the façade was finished.

Construction would span almost six centuries, until completion in 1965.

Week 38, 2020 Week 38, 20206 | LIFE & TRADITION LIFE & TRADITION | 7

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020B10

BARBARA DANZA

Shaan Patel attended what he called “the worst public school district in the nation,” but went on to earn a perfect score on the SAT and a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban on television’s “Shark Tank,” in spite of less advanta-geous beginnings.

I asked Shaan about his extraor-dinary success and for his advice to high school students facing their own college preparation. Here’s what he said.

THE EPOCH TIMES: You did some-thing very rare. You aced the SAT. As our readers pick their jaws up off the floor, tell us about the work you put into making that happen.SHAAN PATEL: Earning a perfect score on the SAT does not come naturally to anyone, and it cer-tainly did not for me. High school does not prepare you to ace stan-dardized tests. Therefore, students must make a concerted effort out-side of their high school courses to prepare for standardized exams such as the SAT and ACT.

After I took my first SAT test in high school, I only scored around average. I then spent hundreds of hours in the library studying for the SAT. I broke down every question on over 20 SAT prac-tice exams understanding why I answered it correctly, incorrectly, and developed strategies that helped me answer questions accu-rately and efficiently. When I took the SAT again in my senior year of high school, I achieved a perfect SAT score—a feat achieved by only 0.02 percent of all students!

THE EPOCH TIMES: A perfect SAT score opened a lot of doors for you. Please tell us about that.MR. PATEL: My perfect SAT score

changed my life! First, it was my ticket to admission into many top universities around the country. I was accepted into the Ivy League, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UC Berkeley, and many other great colleges.

Second, my perfect SAT score helped me secure over $500,000 in scholarship offers from compa-nies such as Best Buy, Lowe’s, and Coca-Cola.

Ultimately, I decided to take a full-ride scholarship to the Bac-calaureate/MD combined medi-cal program at the University of Southern California. I am so grate-ful I made this decision as a teen-ager with the guidance of my par-ents. I did not have to pay a dime for college tuition, housing, books, food, or any other college-related expenses, and I was also given acceptance into USC’s medical school directly from high school. This made college stress-free be-cause I did not have to worry about paying for tuition nor did I have to worry about working tirelessly as a premed student in order to get accepted to medical school—all because of my SAT score.

THE EPOCH TIMES: For students today who are preparing for col-lege in the midst of a pandemic, what advice would you give them to ready themselves for a test like the SAT?MR. PATEL: Right now, you have a unique opportunity. Never before have students been less busy in

high school. They don’t have extra-curricular activities and sports taking up all of their time.

Instead of wasting this extra time on video games and social media, I encourage students to use this time wisely to prepare for the SAT. If you do this, you will reap immense benefits when it comes to college acceptances and schol-arship awards. Work hard now, and it will pay off later.

THE EPOCH TIMES: There has been chatter about some universities no longer requiring standardized test scores or weighing them as heavily in the admissions pro-cess. Do you feel the importance of the SAT (and other such tests) is diminishing?MR. PATEL: Although many col-leges are going test-optional for admissions, they are not test-optional for scholarships. Scholar-ships are often very competitive to earn. Therefore, many scholarship committees still use SAT and ACT test scores as a major deciding fac-tor to determine which students to award millions of dollars in scholarships.

With college tuition skyrocket-ing and student debt nearing $2 trillion, I believe paying for college is even more important than get-ting into college. My test scores allowed me to go to college debt-free, which is why I firmly believe students should study for stan-dardized tests to win scholarships and reduce their cost of college.

THE EPOCH TIMES: You now hold two graduate degrees, you’ve been on “Shark Tank,” and you’re run-ning a successful company: Prep-Expert. What has been the greatest lesson you’ve learned along this extraordinary journey?MR. PATEL: Failure is the necessary evil of success. Although it may look like I have had nothing but success after success, there have been many failures and rejections along the way. I have been rejected from many top universities, didn’t win many scholarships I applied for, and failed at launching other startups. However, having the resiliency to bounce back from failures is the true secret to suc-cess. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

THE EPOCH TIMES: If you could of-fer high school students only one piece of advice, what would it be?MR. PATEL: There will be two types of high school students who come out of this pandemic. The first are the high school students who wasted all of this extra time in quarantine on video games, social media, and streaming television.

The second are the high school students who buckled down, created a study schedule, and disciplined themselves to study for standardized tests in order to ace them. If you are the latter, the rewards you will get in terms of college and scholarships are boundless.

Instead of wasting this extra time on video games and social media, I encourage students to use this time wisely to prepare for the SAT.Shaan Patel, founder, PrepExpert

Shaan Patel on “Shark Tank.”

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHAAN PATEL

Acing the SATA conversation with PrepExpert founder Shaan Patel

PrepExpert founder Shaan Patel.

BARBARA DANZA

If you’re a homeschooler who has spent any time online looking for curriculum resources and tools, you’ve likely come across the com-pany Timberdoodle. This family-owned and -operated purveyor of resources offers pre-assembled curriculum kits along with a la carte offerings for homeschooling families.

I asked founder Deb Deffinbaugh for her insights on choosing cur-riculum and homeschooling in general. Here’s what she said.

THE EPOCH TIMES: What led to the creation of your homeschool cur-riculum business, Timberdoodle?DEB DEFFINBAUGH: In 1985, home-schooling was still relatively new, even illegal in other states. Finding materials that could be purchased for home use was a real achievement. I realized that the homeschool supplies I used with our three oldest daughters (aged 1, 2, and 3) might be useful to other families. That began our Timberdoodle tradition of search-ing out the best homeschool sup-

plies and selling them at budget-friendly prices.

THE EPOCH TIMES: There are count-less families finding themselves unexpectedly homeschooling their children this year. What are some things you wish you had known as a new homeschooler?MS. DEFFINBAUGH: It would have been helpful to know that I could relax. Life learning and flexibility are often more useful and formative than any rote cur-riculum can be. Real-life skills and character are equally important as the “3 R’s” of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

THE EPOCH TIMES: When it comes to choosing curriculum and re-sources, what key considerations should new homeschoolers take into account?MS. DEFFINBAUGH: I always recom-mend that parents determine their child’s learning style—vi-sual, auditory, kinesthetic, or a combination. If you don’t choose or adapt your curriculum to fit your child’s learning style, learn-ing will be much harder for them

than it needs to be. As a side note, I’ve always found that how a baby soothes can indicate their learn-ing style. So visual babies want to look around, auditory babies settle when you hum or sing, and kines-thetic babies are those that need you to bounce, move, or sway.

And stepping back to the bigger picture, I would suggest studying your child. If you purchase a cur-riculum and it doesn’t “work,” find out why. Some common reasons are: it’s too easy (boredom), too hard (frustration), it doesn’t fit your child’s learning style, you took on too much, or your child needs to shore up underlying skills (this is common in math or reading). And quite often, a child has an unde-tected learning challenge. But if those aren’t the issue, perhaps your child needs to learn how to push through when they don’t want to do schoolwork. A system of rewards can help—after all, even

adults expect hard work to be fol-lowed by a paycheck!

THE EPOCH TIMES: What have you found to be the best aspects of homeschooling?MS. DEFFINBAUGH: The relationships. Homeschooling allows families to spend time together and build deep relationships. Flexibility is a close second, both in what curriculum you use and how you implement it on a day-to-day basis.

THE EPOCH TIMES: Do you have any final advice to the parents start-ing out along the homeschooling journey this year?MS. DEFFINBAUGH: I would suggest that you look at where you hope to be at the end of the year. Consider academics, life skills, and even fam-ily projects. Make reasonable goals, and choose and schedule your cur-riculum to meet those goals.

Finally, a child’s character is so much more important than their curriculum. When your child is grown, if they struggle with math, spelling, or historical facts, they can use calculators, spellcheck, and even Google. But character is irreplaceable regardless of what career your child pursues, from playwright to president. Focus on teaching your child what is truly important, whether that means set-ting aside academics for a time, or pushing through when your child wants to quit.

Real-life skills and character are equally important as the ‘3 R’s’ of reading, writing, and arithmetic.Deb Deffinbaugh, founder, Timberdoodle

Timberdoodle founder Deb Deffinbaugh.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TIMBERDOODLE

Curriculum and BeyondHomeschooling advice from Deb Deffinbaugh, founder of Timberdoodle

Kids with the GeoSmart set from Timberdoodle.

� is Week in History

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

FOR KIDS ONLYFour Ducks on a Pond

MICHAEL STABENTHEINER/SHUTTERSTOCK

ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK

by William Allinghamby William Allingham

Four ducks on a pond,A grass-bank beyond,A blue sky of spring,White clouds on the wing;What a little thingTo remember for years—To remember with tears!

On Sept. 21, 1937, one of the most beloved children’s books was published. J.R.R. Tolkien’s “� e Hobbit” was widely acclaimed

when � rst released and has been ever since. It is considered a classic of children’s literature and has been adapted for the stage, big screen, and even for toys and video games.

Its legendary author once compared himself to a hobbit, saying: “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees and unmechanized farmlands. ... [I] have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics � nd tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much.”

‘THE HOBBIT’ IS PUBLISHED

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955), PHYSICIST AND SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHER

ZHUKOVVVLAD/SHUTTERSTOCK PANUVAT UEACHANANON/SHUTTERSTOCK

Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.

BECAUSE THEY’RE AFRAID TO RELAX AND UNWIND.

LEMANNA/SHUTTERSTOCK

WHY DON’T MUMMIES

LIKE TO GO CAMPING?

THE FORMATION OF FOSSILS

By Aidan Danza, age 14

L hen living things die, they leave behind their bodies. The body is decomposed by bacteria and other microbes, and soon all that is left is bones. When the body decays for millions of years, even the bones disappear. However, in special cases the bones can be preserved, or fossilized, in a few di� erent ways.

WIn order to be fully fossilized, land animals must die next to a body of water so that they’re buried by the flow of water, which carries silt and mud with it. The skeleton is eventually swallowed by the riverbed, but is still in contact with water, which is, of course, impure. These impurities may include certain minerals that enter pores in the bones. Over time, the fossil is buried ever deeper, causing a buildup of pressure, while the minerals

continue entering the bones. Over millions of years, these minerals, once microscopic particles in water, build up to such an extent that they crystallize and harden the bones against any decomposition. As the earth changes over many millions of years, geological forces will bring the bones close to the surface for archeologists to discover. This process is called permineralization.

Another type of fossilization is called natural casting. Natural

casting happens when an organism (living thing) dies and makes a print in the ground where it falls. Perhaps this is a plant falling into mud, fish in the riverbed, or a clam in the deep sea bottom. The substrate where the organism falls hardens, preserving the print for millions of years, long after the organism’s real remains are gone.

Animals leave behind all sorts of things. Sometimes these are footprints, sometimes a nest or

eggshell, and sometimes droppings. These things are fossilized much in the same way as natural casting, or sometimes a permineralization, in the case of eggshells and droppings.

The rarest type of fossil is encasement. An animal becomes trapped in a sticky substance, such as asphalt, quicksand, tree sap, or in very rare cases, ice. The animal eventually dies, and the substance hardens, preserving the animal’s bones until it is excavated.

aMazing Escape Maze

START

USE THE FOUR NUMBERS IN THE CORNERS, AND THE OPERANDS (+, - AND X) to build an equation to get the solution in the middle. There may be more than one “unique” solution but, there may also be “equivalent” solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28

Medium puzzle 1

2

12

15

1671

+ − × ÷

(16 + 12) × 2 + 15

Solution for Medium 1

Easy puzzle 1

3

6

7

877

+ − × ÷

Hard puzzle 1

1

3

8

33

+ − × ÷

(8 + 6 − 3) × 7

Solution For Easy 1

33 − (8 − 1) × 3

Solution for Hard 1

12

1 Most important piece of camping gear (5)

2 Hiking gear (5)

3 Firepit area (8)

5 The Great Outdoors! (6)

7 Hiker’s path (5)

9 Campsite furniture (5)

10 Capture The Flag and others (5)

12 Fellow camper? (6)

13 Hiking is really just _____ (7)

14 Nightlight (7)

16 When camping pay attention to (6)

18 When hiking take a ____ and a compass (3)

AMAZINGESCAPES!

1 Sticks, usually (8)

2 It goes on a fishhook (4)

3 Birchbark vessel (5)

4 Kicks (3)

6 Where the sleeping bags go (5)

8 Fire starters (7)

10 Stu� (4)

11 Mosquito repellent (3,5)

13 Rain, wind, sun, snow, frost, etc. (7)

15 Ground cover (5)

17 You need a life guard for this (8)

19 A piece of climbing gear (4)

20 Drink this to stay hydrated (5)

Down 1 Most important piece of camping gear (5)

2 Hiking gear (5)

3 Firepit area (8)

5 The Great Outdoors! (6)

7 Hiker's path (5)

9 Campsite furniture (5)

10 Capture The Flag and others (5)

12 Fellow camper? (6)

13 Hiking is really just _____ (7)

14 Nightlight (7)

16 When camping pay attention to (6)

18 When hiking take a ____ and a compass (3)

KINDLINGBAITNOICANOEOFUNATENTSEAMATCHESR

TPHGEARBUGSPRAYAI

RIIPMLWEATHERAELAEGRASSALEANKSWIMMINGFTIATEENROPEWATERGYN

Let’s Go camping!

Across 1 Sticks, usually (8)

2 It goes on a fishhook (4)

3 Birchbark vessel (5)

4 Kicks (3)

6 Where the sleeping bags go (5)

8 Fire starters (7)

10 Stuff (4)

11 Mosquito repellent (3,5)

13 Rain, wind, sun, snow, frost, etc. (7)

15 Ground cover (5)

17 You need a life guard for this (8)

19 A piece of climbing gear (4)

20 Drink this to stay hydrated (5)

1 2

3

4 5 6 7

8 9

10

11

12

13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20

Across

Down

The dust cover of the first edition of “The Hobbit.”

The Hobbiton in Matata, New Zealand.

THE

W

Week 38, 2020Week 38, 20208 | LIFE & TRADITION

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020B12

Preserving Our Values for the Next Generation

Unimaginable ChangeYou know about the state of our nation.

Day after day, freedoms are taken from us. The words, and even the reputations, of our Founding Fathers are being twisted.

The concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have morphed into something working to silence and bind us.

What’s more is that our nation is experiencing an erosion of family values, the desecration of morality—and most of all, the increasing dominance of socialist and communist factors in our government and broader society.

Our great nation, with its ideals of individual liberty and the freedom to build our own lives, is becoming “free” in name only and slowly being dragged down by the specter of communism.

At this rate, our grandchildren may grow up in a country that’s far different from the America we knew.

An AntidoteThis potential future worries us. But it also drives us to work harder—because our work here at The Epoch Times is part of this poison’s antidote.

Our society’s demoralization comes down to one source: communist ideology in its myriad forms and with its ultimate goal of destroying human morality. When we as Americans clearly see and heartily reject this evil force, we can win this battle.

Massive ChallengesFor months, Americans faced the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Virus. More

than 100,000 Americans lost their lives, while millions more lost their livelihoods. In a matter of weeks, our booming economy took a massive hit.

And before we were able to recover, the communist-extremist group Antifa took advantage of civil unrest. They began to incite violence, burning homes and small businesses across dozens of cities. These extremist movements now call for radical changes to America’s legal system— including abolishing the police.

The Root CauseThese happenings remind us that communism did not disappear with the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s still alive today, and its aim is to silence people, crush our spirits and destroy the traditional values of our human society.

Despite having taken on different forms throughout the past century, communism’s destructive nature never changes. Communism is a poison which aims to snuff out the best parts of humanity using any and all tactics: the ends always justify the means.

The Epoch WayWe’ve lived through this before. Many of us here at The Epoch Times have been victims of communism and have witnessed firsthand how fear and ignorance are manipulated—turning good, decent people into willing slaves.

Our motto is “Truth and Tradition,” the opposite of communist thought. From our founding, we’ve stood against the lies, deceit and rejection of humankind’s collective history that communism foments.

A Bumpy RoadIn 2000, soon after we began publishing, the Chinese Communist Party arrested, jailed and tortured 10 of our China-based journalists.

Over the years, our journalists have been shot at, threatened and imprisoned. Our offices have been robbed and even set on fire. They keep trying to silence us, but we will never be silenced.

Our journalists have the courage and fortitude to investigate and report stories that most media won’t. And because we call into question the “established” narratives when facts don’t seem to line up, we’ve been further attacked, demonetized and de-platformed by some giant tech companies, legacy news outlets and service providers.

So what we’re doing is not simply reporting stories or conducting investigations.

We are holding the line.And it’s working. Despite major resistance,

we’ve become the fastest-growing newspaper in the United States.

The Honest News RenaissanceIf you’re looking for an honest source of news that brings you the facts and let you make up your own mind, then The Epoch Times is your best choice. Your subscription won’t only bring honest news directly to your doorstep—it will also contribute to the revival of American journalism and help safeguard our freedoms for future generations.

In Truth and Tradition,The Epoch Times

TRUTH AND TRADITION

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I enjoy reading The Epoch Times daily and share links, stories and

“real news” updates whenever I can. Because of this, several friends and

family members are now subscribers and have thanked me for sharing “real

news” that is going on globally.

DELINDA FORSY THE

I saw a Facebook ad that pulled me in. I do not have a local paper that doesn’t read like the whole thing is an opinion

piece. Having true factual reporting and an opinion section for opinions is so

refreshing. I enjoy reading The Epoch Times as it shows me how a newspaper

should be and I’m grateful for it.A BBY LONDON

I recommend the paper, usually on Twitter, and in person. I never expected the wealth of articles on health, aging, parenting, communications, American

history, and more. LINORE ROSE BURK A RD

The Epoch Times truly has aneutral stance on news eventsin comparison to large media

companies and enables me tocreate my own opinions

about issues.CORBIN LUBIA NSKI

TRUTH and TRADITION

Week 38, 2020 LIFE & TRADITION | 10